For some twenty-five years I've had the inestimable privilege of collaborating with Augusta Read Thomas and so it is with some authority that I claim she is a singular refutation of Newtonian physics: she creates energy. In countless workshops, recording sessions, performances, and masterclasses I've watched her elicit previously undiscovered timbral nuance, dynamic possibility, and personal virtuosity from players and composers alike. Hers is a creative energy so irrepressible that somewhere amidst the cascade of commissions, awards, and international flights to attend performances of her work she, to mention just two examples, launched Chicago's largest-scale new music festival (Ear Taxi) as well as one of the country's most prolific incubators of new work, The Grossman Ensemble. I'm happy to report that the performances captured within this tracklist provide significant evidence in substantiating this bold claim. To my ears, Sol offers Gusty's compositional luminosity as a collection of rituals for introspection, spiritual stimulus, and at the very least, a reminder that light can prevail in darkness. Particularly enticing is that when imbibed as a whole, this record shepherds us through an extra-ordinary ceremony that, as with each of the five rites comprising it, tenders the possibility for subtle yet substantive restoration and ultimately, transformation. c Doyle Armbrust

Tracklist:

Solstice Ritual, Homage to VarÃ¨se and Ravel for 14 Virtuosi-I. Reaching Skyward
Solstice Ritual, Homage to VarÃ¨se and Ravel for 14 Virtuosi-II. Two Drumming Rituals
Solstice Ritual, Homage to VarÃ¨se and Ravel for 14 Virtuosi-III. Bell Prayers
Magical Flights of the Adarna Bird-I. Invocation - Majestic, Blazing, Illuminated
Magical Flights of the Adarna Bird-II. Spiritus - Lyrical, Rhapsodic, Animated and Sparkling
Magical Flights of the Adarna Bird-III. Spiraling Healing Poem - Elegant, Dreamy
Illuminations 'Fanfare Sinfonia' for Solo Timpani, 3 Percussion and 9 Brass-I. Ceremonious - Stately
Illuminations 'Fanfare Sinfonia' for Solo Timpani, 3 Percussion and 9 Brass-II. Lyrical - Elegant
Light Pearls Through Prisms
Equinox Ritual, Homage to Igor Stravinsky for Percussion Quartet-I. Reaching Skyward
Equinox Ritual, Homage to Igor Stravinsky for Percussion Quartet-II. Three Drumming Rituals
Equinox Ritual, Homage to Igor Stravinsky for Percussion Quartet-III. Bell Prayers

UPC: 0710357646423
Label: Nimbus Records
Release Date: 2.6.26
Format: CD

Augusta Read Thomas: Sol - Augusta Read Thomas: Sol (CD)